Plant package



A. M. TRAVIS PLANT PACKAGE Nov. 17, 1959 Filed June 15. 1953 3Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTO EY Nov. 17, 1959 A. TRAVIS PLANT PACKAGE Filed June15. 1953 5 Sheets-Sh eet 2 III/l INVENTOR Alba/2 M Trau/s Nov. 17, 1959A. M TRAVIS PLANTPACKAGE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June l5. 1953 'INVENTORA/berl M Traw's BY wan} (134% United States Patent 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-22)This invention relates to an improvement in plant packages and dealsparticularly with a package in which a plant may be shipped and whichacts to protect the.

plant during shipment.

Considerable difliculty has been experienced in the shipment of smallplants. One of these difficulties lies in the fact that the plants areusually packed in containers of rectangular shape and during shipment,other heavier packages are piled upon them. 'Due to the fact that theplants do not completely fill the package, the container will notsufficiently resist crushing to prevent injury to the tops of the plantswhen other heavier containers are piled upon them. I

An object of the present invention lies in the provision of a containerfor plants and the like which is generally triangular in form. Thecontainers, when shaped in this manner, can be piled one upon the otherwith comparative ease, but it is difiicult to pile other heavierpackages on top of the same. As a result, much of the damage duringshipment has been eliminated.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a plantpackage which is easy to seal. The package formed is provided with apair of flanges which project from the package. One flange projects fromthe body portion of the package while the other projects from the coverthereof. These flanges may be secured together by stitching or othersuitable means to form an effective seal. The stitches may be readilyapplied by a hand stapling unit or the like, which is readily availableat low cost. Most containers previously used for the purpose could notbe closed in this manner.

A further feature of the invention resides in the provision of a plantpackage which is shaped to provide protection for the plant. The plantsshipped are usually contained in paper pots or the like. A single potmay be positioned at one end with the tops of the plants extendingtoward the opposite end. Similarly, a plurality of pots or other plantholders may be placed at each end of the package, for bulk shipping.

These and other objects and novel features of the invention will be moreclearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claim:

In the drawings forming a part of the specification, Figure 1 is aperspective view of my plant package showing the construction thereof.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the plant package in open form.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the package.

which is foldably connected at 11 to a side wall panel 12. The bottompanel 10 is also connected along a fold line 13 to a wall panel 14. Thewall panels 12 and 14 are foldably connected along parallel fold lines15 and 16 to locking flanges 17 and 19 respectively. It is desirablethat the plant packages telescope or nest together in open form so thatthe packages may be set up previous to the packing operation.Accordingly, the fold line 11 is shorter than the fold lines 13 and 15and the bottom panel 10 and wall panel 12 taper in form, being widest atthe fold lines 13 and 15 and narrowest at the fold line 11. In otherwords, the panels '10 and 12 are quadrilaterals, which are frustums ofsimilar triangles.

A triangular flap 20 is hingedly connected to one side of the panel 10along a fold line 21 and a similar triangular flap-22 is hingedlyconnected to the opposite side of the bottom panel 10 along a fold line23. A triangular flap 24 is hingedly connected to one side of the panel12 along a fold line 25 while a similar triangular flap 26 is foldablyconnected to the panel 12 along a fold line 27. Short flanges 29 and 30are foldably connected to corresponding edges of the panels 24 and 26along fold lines 31 and 32 respectively. These flanges are designed toextend along opposite edges of the carton when the same is erected.

The carton blanks A are shaped and stored in the flat conditionillustrated in Figure 4. From time to time the cartons are set up intothe form shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. In setting up the containerA," the flaps 20 and 22 are folded to substantially right angles withthe panel 10 and the panels 24 and 26 are also folded to right angleswith the panel 12. The panel 12 or the panel 10, is swung through 120along the fold line 12 and the flap 24 overlies the flap 20 and the flap26 overlies the flap 22. The flaps 20 and 24 are then stitched orotherwise secured together as are also the flaps 22 and 26. I

When in the form illustrated in Figure 4, the containers taper in widthso that one will nest into the other. In other words, the fold line 11of one container will be in parallel spaced relation to the similar foldline of the next adjoining container. Thus the packages can be erectedand contained in a relatively small space.

When it is desired to use the package, the plant or plants are insertedinto the package in a manner to protect both the roots and the top. Theflanges 29 and 30 are then folded into right angular relation with theflaps 24 and 26 to which they are hinged. The flap 14 is next folded tooverlie the flanges 29 and 3t and the flange 19 is folded into surfacecontact with the corresponding flange 17. Staples or stitches such as 33may be'inserted through the flanges 1'7 and 19 to connect these partsand to hold the container closed. During shipment, the triangularpackages may fit one upon another with relative ease. However, if arectangular package is placed upon the container A it lacks stabilityand will fall off. Therefore, in usual practice, the plant packages maybe shipped by parcel post or express without damaging the contents.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the package isformed.

Figure '5 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of plantpackage designed to support one or two plants during shipment.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of the package blank of the structureshown in Figure 5.

The plant package is indicated in general by the letter A. The packageis provided with a bottom panel 10,

If desired, the fold line 16 may be omitted and the flange 16 maycomprise an integral extension of the top panel 14 with no line of foldtherebetween. In this case the fold line 15 permits the flange 17 tofold flush with the extending edge portion 19 of the cover panel 14.

It should also be noted that the two flanges 17 and 19, which ordinarilyproject from the top of the package form a cushion to prevent crushingof the package. These flaps or flanges when combined, are resistant tobending and act to prevent distortion of the container. Also, thetriangular shape of the package adds strength to the structure andprovides no flat top surface which may be crushed inwardly withcomparative ease.

I have described the package as having a panel 10 which forms the bottompanel and panels 12 and '14 which form wall panels. In actual practice,the panels may be difierently positionedand any of these panels as wellas either end of the container, may actually form the bottom of thepackage.

In Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings I disclose a modified form of packageB which is designed to contain one or two plants, in usual form. Thispackage is virtually identical to the package A previously described,but is longer in proportion to the panel widths. The panels 35, 36 and37, which correspond to the panels 12, 10 and 14 of the package A aremerely longer and narrower than the corresponding panels of package A.

One of the main points of dilference between the packages A and B liesin the provision of tabs orears in each of the panels to hold the plantsin position. Tabs 39, 4t and 41 are provided near'one end of each of thepanels 35, 36 and 37, respectively. These tabs are preferably equallyspaced from one end of the package, and hinged at the tab ends mostremote from this package end. Accordingly, the tabs 39, 40 and 41, whenbent inwardly at an acute angle to their normal positions, can engageagainst the base portion of the plant. The plant bases are bulbular dueto the encircling earth about the plant roots.

A similar series of tabs 42, 43 and 44 are provided in the panels 35, 36and 37 near the ends thereof opposite the ends next adjacent to the tabs39, 40 and 41. The tabs 42, 43 and 44 are hinged at their ends mostremote from the nearest package end, and are designed to fold inwardlyto hold a plant base in position. In Figure 5 the ears 42, 43 and 44engage against the plant end, while the ears 39, 40 and 41 engage theplants other end. The tops of the plants are supported in overlappingrelation.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my method for producing plant packages,and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, Idesire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within thescope of the following claim without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim:

A plant package including a first trapezoidal panel, a secondtrapezoidal panel, these first and second panels being integrallyconnected along the shorter of their parallel sides, the correspondingend edges of the trapezoidal panels being at equal obtuse angles to theconnection along the shorter of the parallel sides, and a third panel ofgenerally rectangular shape connected to the longer of the parallelsides of the second panel, an end flange connected to the longer of theparallel edges of the first panel, said third panel being outwardlyfolded into face contact with said end flange, and triangular end flapsconnected to the ends of said first and second panels and secured inoverlapping relation to hold said first and second panels at an acuteangle to each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS GreatBritain Sept. 1,

